Free games for the New Year: Yeti
As much a comedy sketch as an adventure game, Yeti casts you as the director of a nature documentary in the Himalayas. You're in pursuit of the mythical creature itself, a beast of the wilds whose hobbies include brandy and dance music. The game's humour is grounded in the Yeti's increasingly improbable cosmopolitan lifestyle, the places he finds himself, and the things the film crew will do to facilitate him.
A big part of Yeti's charm is in daft solutions to problems, so don't expect to engage your critical thinking too much. Purely mechanically, it's a clickable hotspot hunt - but it succeeds because it's central joke is well-told and doesn't outstay its welcome. There's a great deal of charm in the world's wholesale acceptance of the Yeti's presence, and while it's never laugh-out-loud funny it's a pleasure to spend time with. The use of the camera is also inventive, limiting your view to the area immediately in front of your lens in a way that encourages you to focus on the central action of any given scene.
It's intended to set up the forthcoming Office Yeti, so it's clear that Mennonite Software are willing to see just how far they can stretch their 'Himalayan Monster in Canada' schtick. Download it here .
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Joining in 2011, Chris made his start with PC Gamer turning beautiful trees into magazines, first as a writer and later as deputy editor. Once PCG's reluctant MMO champion , his discovery of Dota 2 in 2012 led him to much darker, stranger places. In 2015, Chris became the editor of PC Gamer Pro, overseeing our online coverage of competitive gaming and esports. He left in 2017, and can be now found making games and recording the Crate & Crowbar podcast.